


A Phoenix Must First Burn to Rise

by Infinity_formation



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Blackmail, Critiqued by acclaimed profs Black Zetsu & Uchiha Madara of Controlling Shits Uni, Guilt, Konoha takes offence, Madara's A+ Parenting, No Beta we die like vikings, Obito's shitty luck, Secret Identity, Temporary Character Death, The Uchiha Conspiracy, Third Shinobi War, Time Travel, absent parenting - freeform, back to life- freeform, cursed tag story, explicit panic attack - skip last scene of ch 2 to avoid, how far can you push that luck Obito?, negotiations on power dynamics, no not that one, presenting graduate thesis Loopholes: The Study by Uchiha Obito, sometimes the road to redemption is full of trial and error, that nonaffiliated nin lifestyle, world building attempts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:01:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23591989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Infinity_formation/pseuds/Infinity_formation
Summary: With his last breath of life Madara steals Obito from the afterlife, taking them back to their days in the cave. He is not suddenly redeemed, and it's hard to change the patterns that have kept you alive- but he wants to trust in Hashirama's last words to him. Wants to learn to trust them and other people again. Wants to see the one person he had left live a happier life than they did before.Obito, for his part, desperately wants to repent and see his loved ones, but he's willing to sell his soul all over again and play a dangerous gamble with his own fate and the fate of the world if that's the best bet of everyone else surviving and living happily in the real world.Kakashi is not going to sit by quietly after getting dragged along for the ride. He knows Obito is alive this time, has Rin by his side, he won't abandon him- won't let any of them die.
Relationships: Uchiha Obito & Uchiha Madara - Relationship
Comments: 13
Kudos: 71





	1. A Spark In The Dark And A Goal On A Map

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ Content for you all! This was actually the first work I started on when I first started working on my Obito time travel fics but later shifted by attention to Shitty Grandpa, Mangekyou Squad, and TBiF that four of you are reading X) 
> 
> I've got enough for two pre-written chapters for this story though, so I'm going to upload them to provide content for people. I do hope to continue it eventually cause I really like the plot, but I haven't been feeling the motivation as much ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

He’s saying goodbye to Kakashi when everything implodes. One second they’re on the plane between the dimensions of the living and the dead, the next a familiar chakra is sweeping around him and trying to carry him off. He hears Kakashi shouting for him in his panic and grabs onto him tightly as everything goes black.

\------------

He tries not to show signs he’s awakened when he comes to. There’s definitely physical sensation. His body feels awkward: light in some places yet aching and heavy in others. He’s laying on something rough and harsh and the air is stale. He has a bad feeling he knows where he’s been taken.

“Up, Obito. There is much to do.”

Fuck fuck fuck. Sure enough, it’s the bastard in all his wrinkly glory. “Bastard. I’m going to fuckin kill you.” He threatens, but his throat is dry and his voice naturally high. Fuck.

Madara huffs in amusement. “You may find that somewhat difficult in your present condition but by all means, go ahead and try.”

Obito hisses. It’s about all he can do with his body freshly crushed and recovering from the grafting of Hashirama’s cells. He’s pleased to note that he already has his arm but it, along with the rest of his body, feels weak.

Never mind the fact that judging on the time period he probably has the cursed seal back on his heart that would prevent him from completing his attack anyway. Madara’s smug gaze flickering to his chest only confirms it and he has to hold back attacking the bastard anyway.

“I have a task for you.” Madara tells him. He immediately feels his focus narrow onto him and a part of his mind is screaming in alarm but he can only barely take note of it.

Madara levels a serious gaze at him. “I need you to find one of the Uzumaki survivors. An adult that you can enter into my service.” He looks over Obito’s body again. “I’ve kept you asleep while you healed. You have two days to regain motion and then you begin your mission. If you aren’t mobile on your own I’ll send you out in one of the Zetsu.”

Well that’s motivational. Now that he looks he can see a few white Zetsu loitering in the cave. He remembers Black Zetsu taking him over only a few hours ago and can’t help inching away from them.

Satisfied with his threat Madara returns to his throne. “We’ll discuss everything once your task is complete. Start practicing.”

No need to tell him. Obito wants to get the hell away from the bastard as soon as possible. He tries to get up and encounters his first problem: nothing really wants to move.

It takes the full two days of before he’s built his muscles up enough to steadily walk around. Two days and nights of only intense focus on his goal to get the hell out of the cursed cave and stubbornly ignoring everything that’s just happened until he reaches it. He suspects that without the advanced healing he wouldn’t have made the cut off. Madara, the bastard, looks pleased at the sight of him exhausted and barely holding himself together.

“There have been sightings of travelers bearing the Uzumaki red hair in River Country. Complete your mission quickly, I have a special assignment for you once you return.” He grins maniacally as if deriving great pleasure from trying to freak Obito out.

He’s really not up for the old man’s shit right now though. He needs some space so he can process everything that just happened without Madara and Zetsu breathing down his neck. He prepares to activate kamui before pausing and glancing at the Zetsu. Clearly both Madara and himself were transported, but the Zetsu have been acting very laid back and curious, there haven’t been any snide comments about their ineptitude or the moon’s eye plan. Even more telling he hasn’t seen any sign of Black Zetsu- who he knows for a fact would chew them out and possibly off one or both of them in their current weakened states before doubling down on the other. But Black Zetsu has been silent.

Wordlessly Obito instead turns and looks around the chamber before moving to stand in front of the entrance. He pointedly waits for a moment before throwing a glare at Madara over his shoulder.

The evil git laughs. “Very well.” He makes a hand sign and the boulder blocking the entrance moves out of the way enough for him to make his way through. As he makes his way across the landing Madara calls to him one more time. “It should go without saying, but you will not reveal your identity or reveal critical information regarding myself or your mission to anyone you come in contact with besides your target.”

He feels something click in his mind and pushes himself to run into the hallway before he has a chance to act on the rush of anger surging through him as he puts it together.

A quick search of a side room reveals outfits similar to the one he’d worn for the fourth shinobi war, along with basic travel supplies and weaponry. He happily changes into one and stocks up. It’s a relief to be armed again, even if he can’t use any of it against the actors he wants to. He looks longingly at a set of chains he once used before reluctantly turning his eye towards a rack of short swords instead. Much more common than shinobi tools, easy enough to pass off any proficiency on his sharingan.

He secures one in the sash around his waist and turns to go when a cloak near the entrance catches his attention. He picks it up and turns it over. It has a deep hood that would conceal his face from any direction he wasn’t facing. Not the best for visibility, but if he keeps his senses open for chakra signatures it should work.

Would seeing his face count as “revealing his identity to anyone he comes in contact with”? The sudden revolution for the cloak answers his question and he almost drops it. But what if it was dark out? What if he just wants to enjoy a night stroll by his lonesome to get out his frustration without futilely attacking Madara in a fit of rage? The sudden revolution vanishes and Obito breaks into a mad grin as he scoops up his prize. He merrily seals it into a storage scroll before resuming his way out of the hideout.

So Madara thinks he can modify the cursed tag seal to give Obito more precise commands? He better be ready for Obito to fight him every scrap of the way.

Such a shame that Konoha is in the middle of a near straight line between here and River country. Madara did say to finish his mission quickly.

\---------------------------

Really though, what is Madara planning by bringing them back in time? He’d seen through Kakashi that Madara had been conscious at the end. Madara knows what Zetsu and Kaguya did to both of them, so if he was going to go back in time at all, why come back here? Why not somewhere closer to the village’s founding to settle his problems with the Senjus?

He drops into the bushes to wait out a patrol. Really, the only thing about it that adds up at all just makes him angrier.

“Heading towards Konoha?”

He nearly jumps and turns around to see White Zetsu poking his head out of the ground next to him. He glares at the creep and motions towards the patrol still going by.

“Haha sorry sorry.”

…That’s a lot of shinobi for a patrol. They’re near the Rice-Fire border so he’d been expecting some Kumo and Konoha patrols, but this is near 20, 30 Kumo heading towards Iwa. They wait until a good ten minutes before he stands up and acknowledges the Zetsu.

“The geezer said to be quick didn’t he?” He keeps walking south towards the border. If the Zetsu really has a problem with him getting so close he’ll drop something in his banter to warn him off.

It follows along though the earth besides him. “Yes, but Madara-sama also told you not to reveal yourself. Won’t going through Konoha be putting yourself at risk?”

Maybe if he hadn’t already gone through Konoha millions of times before without getting caught. The seal doesn’t even twitch at the idea. That was pretty close to a warning though, likely not one from Madara either. He considers, if he keeps going toward Konoha now he may have to reveal some of his abilities, but could play himself off as by the letter and not someone at risk of having their own plans.

On the other hand, if Zetsu ever does suspect anything he has two Uchiha with mokuton to pick from now; and he definitely won’t be a candidate if he looks to be blindly loyal to Madara. Blind sure, but not loyal to someone Zetsu himself could become enemies with. A little independence from Madara, a little show that he could be swayed sometimes, and he won’t automatically be tossed off the list. And he doesn’t want to be plantkebab. Maybe both of them were tricked but Obito is pretty sure he had more reasons than Madara to not destroy the world.

Decision made he visibly pauses. “I know the area well. I could avoid detection.”

Zetsu frowns. “Ahh, but that would make you lose all the time you’d gain going that way in the first place.”

Obito tilts his head to the side as if he’s still mulling it over. Finally he sighs and alters his course a bit. “We’ll head further to the west then. That should put us around 20 miles outside the village at the closest point. That ok with you?”

“Ah! That’s much better, let’s go!”

Annoying. There goes his chance of checking in on Rin and Kakashi. Which is probably the whole point, keep him on a short leash and away from any information that could let him concoct his own plans. He’ll have to find a work around.

They travel in silence for a few more minutes before Zetsu speaks up again. “How do you know Madara-sama? I haven’t seen you in the hideout before.”

So he knows something’s up then. The bastard probably hadn’t given any explanation after addressing Obito so casually. That was just like him to leave Obito all the dirty work. He briefly thinks back to his previous questions on why Madara brought them here before focusing on the Zetsu again. He really doesn’t know what explanation Madara had given so he just shrugs.

“Come on! You sure seemed grumpy at him.”

“My body has been altered, I can’t leave, and the bastard is ordering me around. I’d say I have reason to be as pissed at him as I want.”

The Zetsu laughs. “So you’re just quick to grasp the situation you’re saying?”

He shrugs again. “Maybe. It’s not like I haven’t heard of him before.”

“Ah right. You’re also an Uchiha.” Zetsu turns to observe him more closely.

Obito looks back. Should he try to position himself as a better candidate now? Would that be too suspicious so soon after being kidnapped? Zetsu has to know what he was like before for Madara to have singled him out and oh, there’s the rage again.

Some of it must show on his face because Zetsu chuckles before returning to silence, for which Obito was grateful. This is probably as close as he’s going to get to being alone for awhile and Zetsu didn’t seem like he’s about to pick him off, so this is his best shot to sort out his mind. It wasn’t like he wasn’t used to Zetsu supervising him anyways. Just, you know, the fact that it was the day before yesterday to him when all of them had revealed how they’d used and played him and then continued to do so.

Focus, what was Madara’s plan? What were Obito’s restrictions? What did he want to do?

…Wasn’t that an odd thing to be asking himself. He’d had to ask something to that effect in the battle but it had been more about who’s dream he should be fighting for, not so much what in particular he’d like to see. By the time he’d realized that was an option the time to plan such things had long since passed for him. One way or another that battle was supposed to have been his death. It had been ages since he thought about what he wanted open-ended.

Well, he supposes that at the very least he doesn’t want the world dying. He’d like to bash Zetsu and Madara in the heads and their stupid plans too.

He tries to stop himself when he begins to think of the possibility of protecting Rin and Kakashi. Zetsu is already on to him and Madara saw he’d allied with Kakashi and knows he would go back to them if he could. At least one if not both of them are probably already thinking of new ways to kill them off.

He kicks off the next tree with more force than necessary. There has to be something he can do to keep the two of them safe! They’re both alive but not for long if he doesn’t act quickly.

Breath, so he had his short term goal: find some way to save Kakashi and Rin. His restrictions are pretty obvious: both of the mad men are keeping tabs on him and will prevent Obito from getting anywhere near a situation that would allow him to exert any sort of influence over the situation. However, with Madara bound to the cave, his current influence over Obito is only through the Zetsu and cursed seal tag.

The seal tag definitely seems finer tuned than the last time, giving him warnings and allowing more specificity in a larger range of commands, but at the same time he is able, is allowed, to think back against at least the intention of his commands. Or so it seems at least. He likely won’t know for sure unless he gets it removed. He’d never even considered deviating from the final result of the moon’s eye plan, but he’d had space to fiddle with some of the process of reaching that end goal too without realizing the full implications of the seal, so it was very possible that he is currently blind to some of what he’s doing or thinking. Sage but he hated Madara.

Finally, Madara’s plan. He really can’t see what could be going on here yet. Find and recruit an Uzumaki? Not Nagato? Why does he need an Uzumaki? He needs to learn every detail he can about these Uzumaki in River and what role they could play in Madara’s plans.

He has to find out Madara’s plans as soon as possible to protect Rin and Kakashi. Right now he can only hope he’ll find some clues with the Uzumaki. One thing he does know about the world though is that it’s no good to just hope. Without leverage those two will be dead before long and Obito has to do something. With Madara currently limited to the hideout his immediate concern is Zetsu. He glances at the Zetsu traveling along next to him, who returns the look with a grin. Could he barter with the Zetsu? Did he have anything he was willing to give that Back Zetsu would want?

“Haha that’s an interesting look in your eye.”

He could just… out Madara to Zetsu. But then Zetsu will be far too controlling over Obito himself in case he tries to escape from being Kaguya’s vessel, and as much as he hates the old man, having two of them against Zetsu is still better than one for as long as it can last. What else can he offer that Zetsu doesn’t think he has already? What does Zetsu need that he doesn’t have right now? The tailed beasts obviously, the Rinnegan is presumably already with Nagato- and something he needs to keep close track of in case he needs to steal it before Madara takes it back- the gedo mazo has been summoned, and he thinks he already has Obito now to move the last little pieces into place. There has to be something.

They’re interrupted by the trees in front of them suddenly blowing over from an explosion. Strong winds rattle the area and Obito cures as he uses some of the little chakra he’s recovered to stick to the tree while carefully navigating to the opposite side of the trunk from the blast. As the wind dies down he’s able to pick out the sounds of fighting edging closer to his tree.

Drat. They’re on the other side right now but he’s likely to get caught in the battlefield. If only Zetsu wasn’t here so he could use his kamui. If only he’d been able to stop at a village where he could pick up a mask to hide his face. He does the only thing he can think of in the seconds he has before the fighting descends upon him and rubs some of the dirt that landed on him during the explosion around his face and particularly over the scars.

“Whatever happens this isn’t on me.” He grumbles to the hidden Zetsu before the branch he’s on gets severed and he has to jump to the next tree.

“Someone’s in the trees!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Is this a story people would be interested in seeing more of?


	2. I Had a Nice Dream the Night I Sold My Soul for You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obito continues to have a bad time, sets off conspiracy theories, and fucks with Madara. You know, Tuesday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a rushed editing job I’m afraid, doing a few asap uploads. Yes, that means Squad is getting updated finally, more in end notes. 
> 
> Important Tags: Panic attack in the last scene, those of you who want to skip it should end the chapter when Minato shows up. Yeah he makes his first appearance up this chapter. I have a summary for important info from the scene in the end notes.

“Someone’s in the trees!”

“Shit! Finish this!”

He dodges the kunai thrown his way and pauses. Could he use a kunai to further hide his scars? But the decision is taken from him as the battle below finishes and a kunoichi jumps on the branch besides him. He makes out a Suna hitai-ate and brown hair as he dodges out of the way of her grapple, but then her partner joins the fray and Obito’s body isn’t ready for combat yet, he’d just recovered enough for travel and his chakra reserves are strained from the recovery and Madara’s bullshit.

“Euugh!” The man catches him around the neck and pushes him up against the tree.

“What’s your affiliation?” He’s dressed in typical Suna garb with two large scrolls across his back, dark brown hair poking out beneath head wraps, and curved dark purple clan markings curving down on either side of his face.

He coughs before wheezing out. “Independent. I was just passing through.”

The man scoffs. “Saki, check his pack.”

The kunoichi, Saki apparently, removes the pack he’d gotten from the hideout and starts ruffling though it, no doubt looking for identification. She also wears the standard Suna uniform only her hair is up in a bun instead of covered with a head wrap. Instead of scrolls she carries a Daito in her left hand. He notices a telling lack of blood on it from the fight, possible a wind user. “Just normal travel rations and a sword from the land of Iron.”

The man considers this and eyes Obito over carefully. “Bind him. We’ll take him back with us.”

Obito thunks his head against the tree.

A chakra suppression seal is placed on him and his hands are tied as they lead him further south. From what he can make out it looks like they’re headed back to Suna, which should give him some time to escape or otherwise convince them to release him before Zetsu decides to do something.

They stop for the night at what Obito would guess is two days out from the border with river country. They’re still technically in enemy territory but the two Suna-nin have visibly run out of steam. The man, named Hiroto, secures Obito to one of the trees while Saki sets a perimeter. As the two break open their ration bars Hiroto decides it’s time for the interrogation he’s been putting off.

“A sword from Iron huh. What are you doing this far south?”

Obito considers. He needs this performance to go over well. Beyond worrying about the cursed seal tag every word he says right now will no doubt be immediately relayed to Madara through Zetsu. The time spent traveling has let him come up with a plausible story though. “The elder sent me to find Takumi village. We were waiting out the war in Iron country, but it’s never ending and there’s no work to sustain us. If I could come back with some of the right weapons we could do work in Rice and Yu again.”

Hiroto relaxes a bit at his story. He isn’t out of the woods yet but it’s a good enough cover until he can get away. Rice country hadn’t formed any shinobi village until Orochimaru had gotten there, and there are many smaller clans being driven to desperation in the chaos of the shinobi world wars.

Plus it would rub Madara the wrong way to insinuate that their clan had gone into hiding and couldn’t hold their own without special weapons.

“I see. The northern front hasn’t settled down then.”

He remembers the Kumo shinobi he’d seen passing the border. Could he leverage that information? “No…” He made a show of mulling it over. “If I told you what I saw would you let me go?”

Hiroto brings a hand up to his chin, considering. “You’re definitely not Chunin level with those chakra levels.” The corner of his mouth pulls into a smile at Obito’s annoyed face. “The odds of you being a spy seem pretty low, but you did see us in Konoha’s territory. I’m afraid we’ll need to keep you at least until we receive confirmation from headquarters that the information won’t do any harm. Any information you have could improve your odds though.”

Obito slowly releases a long sigh. Zetsu is probably going to kill them if he can’t get away shortly after they get into river country. Will his body have recovered enough by then? “I’ll try to be patient.”

They smile at him and Saki even helps him eat one of the ration bars he didn’t realize was in his pack with the excuse that they needed him to be able to keep up.

Saki is nice. Reserved, helpful, with a default wistful expression. She reminds him a bit of Rin.

Hiroto is a little older and harder than Saki but Obito can tell he has a soft heart past his war hardened exterior.

He wonders if they’ll live to see morning.

“By the way, what’s your name?” Saki eventually asks.

“Huh?” They’re in the middle of a war, why is she asking for the name of some kid they’ve captured?

“I mean, I understand if you can’t give us your clan name, but what should we call you?”

“The strange kid you found in Fire?” He sasses back because really, he doesn’t need a name here. Then, as if Madara is in fact right next to him to whack him upside the head for missing an opportunity, he quickly backpedals. “I mean, sorry ma’am, I’m not used to…” He trails off and makes a vague gesture with his head.

She laughs it off. “We understand, we understand. I imagine the north must be like the west right now.”

Ah, yes, Ame. He thinks of Nagato and Konan, both of whom he’d killed, one way or another. He’ll probably be directed to get into contact with them soon…. Is he going to have to relive all of…

“You can call me Harumu.”

Hiroto smiles and gave a short nod. “It’s a good name. I hope it comes to pass for us all soon; a dream for spring.”

“Yeah.”

He doesn’t really want anymore unnecessary deaths on his hands.

It’s the decision he needs to escape. They placed the chakra suppression seals on his arms, bound behind his back and to the tree. That might work on most people, but only because most people haven’t had Madara’s bad time genjutsu bootcamp from hell. Focusing on the rungs of rope around the seal and reading himself for everything to go to black, he carefully rubs the arm with the seal upwards, once, twice, no explosion. Good, he has this then. A few minutes of rubbing and the skin starts to hurt, by ten he feels it finally break. With his eye open only a crack he turns on his sharingan. Perfect.

He waits until Hiroto is about to sleep and Saki looks just a little too tired to suddenly shift against his bindings, drawing their eyes to his. A quick genjustu and he watches them collapse to the ground. They’ll never remember making eye contact let alone the sharingan.

“Hahaha that was hilarious! You should have seen the old man!” White Zetsu wastes no time emerging from the tree he’s tied to.

His mouth quirks up a bit knowing he got one in on Madara but he represses it. He needs to get going. “Can you help me out of these?”

“Haha of course of course.” He detaches from the tree and crouches before Obito. “But first, you’re going to tell us what’s going on.”

Oh no. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t bother playing cagey. Black Zetsu says he can sense the Juubi all over your chakra.”

Obito shivers. He’s not sure how this time travel works, but he can see how it might be possible for him to have lingering chakra on him after being the Juubi jinchuuriki and then being pierced with that bone. Madara? No, every scrap of sacred tree chakra in Madara had merged with Kaguya and been sealed. Obito just had it yanked from him… and then used his body as a conduit for more tailed beast chakra, had a front row seat for Kaguya’s revival, and got close and personal with her jutsu. Maybe there might be some imprints.

He tries to still his nerves. “…Are you going to kill me then?”

“Hmmm” White Zetsu cocks his head to the side, he must be talking with Black Zetsu. “That depends. First, you’re going to tell us what Madara knows. We’ll know if you’re lying.”

“…Madara became the Juubi’s jinchuuriki. I passed out in the battle while he was recovering both rinnegan. When I woke up…” Respectful tone, don’t get stabbed, she’s technically his thousand over great great grandmother. “Kaguya-dono had revived and Madara was gone.” He swallows. Best to answer some questions before asked. “The Sage of Six Paths interfered, I got caught in the path of one of the bone ash spears and died. Before I could pass on I felt something grabbing hold of my chakra and woke up back in the cave. I can only assume Madara regained consciousness, thought he was overwhelmed by the bijuu and used a time travel jutsu.” And because he was grasping at loose straws. “I, I can’t imagine why he’d come back _here_ if he knew.”

“Hmmm” They both waited as white Zetsu relayed the message. “He says you’re not to tell Madara anything, and “if you don’t want to be replaced by the next Uchiha brat that catches Madara’s favor, you’ll be a good boy and help us patch up whatever went wrong the first time.””

He nods quickly. He really can’t do much of anything right now. Stupid grandpa, of all the times he could have sent them back to it was to when they were both crippled and reliant on _Zetsu_. What the fuck?

Zetsu listens again. “You were fond of that Rin brat right? If you try to betray us she’ll meet a reeeeeally nasty end. Best to let her have a nice dream instead don’t you think?”

He clenches his fists and looks down. He doesn’t want Rin or Kakashi to end up like that anymore. But if it would buy them time… He slowly bows his head. “I understand.”

Zetsu nods and unties his bonds, removing the seals on his arms. He rubs his arms and waits for Zetsu to move away from his space before retrieving his weapons and pack. If he notices that Saki’s breathing is a little too even he doesn’t pay any attention to it.

He takes a hesitant step towards River while watching Zetsu, but Zetsu only nods and they move off again.

\-----

Uchiha? Madara? Rin? Saki stays down and in a relaxed sleep like state, the genjutsu removal seal on her chest cycling the chakra it’s processed as she ponders what she just heard. Harumu is an Uchiha? What was he doing without any identifiers on him? Did he abandon Konoha? Is he a spy after all? Who was that threatening him and who is this Madara he needs to keep secrets from? She stays there the rest of the night praying no passing Konoha patrols find them. In the morning the two of them head to Suna with a new intensity.

\-----

“Obito!” Kakashi lurches forward out of bed, sweating and shaking.

He was right there. They’d been talking, saying goodbye, and then a chakra presence had swooped in and grabbed Obito from the side. They’d grabbed hold of each other on reflex, desperately hanging on and then…

Where is he?

Kakashi looks around, looks at his small arms and hands and feels his shaking get worse. Deep breaths, calm. He forces himself to take ten deep breaths and pushes himself out of bed. He’s in his old apartment, the one from before the Pein attack. That by itself reveals a lot but he has to check, he has to make sure.

He makes his way into the bathroom and looks in the mirror. A boy, his younger self stares back, visibly shaken and covered in sweat from a nightmare. He lifts the eye cover that he’s worn to sleep ever since that day, and there it is: Obito’s sharingan. Swallowing in perturbation, he pushes more charka into it and watches as it forms into the mangekyou.

Calm. He can’t panic. If he’s here, if he still has Obito’s mangekyou-

Obito must be here too, somewhere.

With that thought firmly in mind he evaluates his surroundings more carefully, looking for some hint to when he is. His bedroom is mostly neat and tidy with only a few open scrolls on the bedside and the table. He picks one up and immediately drops it. Dark things he’d started picking up shortly following the incident with Obito. He wishes that gave him a better time frame; that it had been a short phase rather than a regular habit he’d kept up until part way through ANBU. This at least tells him he hasn’t become close with Tenzo yet.

Following the trail of thought he pulls down his shirt to check his arm. No tattoo. Which means- which means Minato, Minato-sensei is still alive.

Damn it Obito. He doesn’t have the emotional capacity for this. Because if Minato-sensei is alive and he hasn’t entered ANBU yet, there’s a chance, however small, that Rin is too.

Kakashi is a realist by nature though, with his track record it’s more likely that Rin died just the day before. Still, he has to know one way or another.

And that’s how he’s changing into his old gear, so tiny, how did anyone take him seriously, and racing to the memorial stone in the middle of the night. Hardly suspicious behavior for him if Obito is already presumed dead.

Her stone isn’t there. Breath. Maybe it really is the day after and they just haven’t laid the stone yet. He can’t assume. So, is he sneaking into her apartment to check? He shouldn’t, seeing the empty bed will just send him into a down spiral and he needs to be present so he can find Obito. And, on the off chance she’s alive, he’ll look like a creep.

He’s already by her window. Of course he is. Well best get this over with the- she’s alive.

Oh. Ok. Huh.

He turns around and walks to their old training ground. Everything is fine. He’s fine. Rin is alive everything is fine he just, needs to let out some steam. Yeah, that’s it.

Sometime around midmorning finds him rebuilding this body’s chakra control by lying on the surface of the river. He’s made the unpleasant discovery that while his chakra levels are the about the same, his control is way off. Just as bad, his emotional control appears to be a strange fluctuating mesh between his childhood and adult abilities, with a generous amount of adrenaline and panic mixed in for kicks. Ha ha.

He really hopes it’s only the stress from having just been sent flying into the past with Obito MIA and not a good indication of his control in general. Either way he’s going to have to get both of them into some level of working order as soon as possible. Fun.

He’s cataloging the work he’ll need to do when Minato arrives. They look at each other for a few minutes in silence. Finally Kakashi breaks the silence “Maa, I might be having a bad day.”

“Might be?” And the weight in the sigh that comes with his words rouses some of the guilt. Nope nope. Don’t want to go there. Besides, they’re- they’re all alive again now and, oh no there goes the control again-

“Kakashi, _no_.” Minato makes his way onto the river and helps him up. They make their way to the base of one of the trees where Minato plops them down. “Want to tell me what happened?” Because his sensei knows his life is one long chain of tragedies and is wise enough to guess that this latest shock is independent of the Obito incident. God Obito.

He tells him. Why not? “I traveled through time sensei. You and Rin both died. Obito…” Minato wraps him in a tight hug.

“It’s ok Kakashi, no one is here, let it out.”

He can’t, because he buried his ability to cry long, long ago, but he decides, fuck it, if he’s offering into the fucking deep end they go, and clings tightly to Minato as he’s overcome by shaking and buries his head in his chest. Thank Sage sensei had been there too, had already known what a failure he was and accepted him anyway, had been there to stay his hand so he didn’t get Obito killed a second time – _OH WAIT._

“Kakashi, listen to me Kakashi, slow, deep breaths. Breath with me Kakashi.”

Oh. He must be having another panic attack.

“Kakashi!”

Right. Breathing.

They spend a few minutes sitting there breathing together as Kakashi calms down. When he doesn’t feel like a shaking mess anymore he sits there for a moment longer before slowly moving back to look at Minato. He looks worried but accepting and _sage_ but Kakashi needs that right now. He tries to compose himself, give an articulate summary of the crap that’s Important right now.

“I traveled from about 22 years from now, if I have my age about right. The fourth shinobi world war had just ended. Sensei, Obito was alive, he was _captured and brainwashed_ and I _never noticed_ and it caused you, Rin, and Kushina to die and I was too messed up to take care of Naruto-“ he’s starting to hyperventilate again. He forces himself to calm down before he panics again.

“Obito is here too, I’m sure of it. He had just… died and had stayed behind to lend his chakra to me to finish the battle. He was saying goodbye when something grabbed us… then I woke up here.” He looks at Minato imploringly. “He was taken by Uchiha Madara and a creature called Zetsu. They used him for a plan called Tsuki no Me, that revived the juubi and cast a genjutsu on the whole world. To do that, they engineered Rin’s death to awaken Obito’s mangekyou sharingan and when Kushina gave birth…” He trails off but by the horrified look on Minato’s face and his earlier admission of everyone’s deaths he’s put it together.

After a moment he takes careful hold of Kakashi’s hands and gently looks him in the eye. “But now you’ve warned us. Things won’t go the same way this time around. Thank you Kakashi.”

Oh, look at that. He can still cry. Will wonders never cease.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing time travel Kakashi’s emotions is hard. 
> 
> Skipped last scene summary:   
> Kakashi tells Minato that their team and Kushina died, Obito is being held captive and brainwashed by Uchiha Madara and Zetsu, and that he wasn't able to look after Naruto. Minato is a good dad and reassures Kakashi that now that Kakashi's told him it won't happen that way again. 
> 
> Watch the author flounder on Japanese naming customs and attempt mashing meanings together into something cool for the story. This is a guilty pleasure of world building/ undercover fanfiction, so I’ll have excuses to give them extra names too. Obito chose Harumu with the meaning “a distant remote dream” because of his experiences in the final arc, his longing for peace, not being forced to kill anyone, and any hope to have his life in his own hands or a future of his own feels like a distant dream that’s forever out of reach. Obito is poetic and deep like that. The Suna nin assume his parents named him using the more optimistic “spring or light” interpretations of haru (according to Behindthename.com) and “dream” -> a dream for their child to see better, more peaceful times. Cause you don’t expect to run into moping undercover Uchiha like that. 
> 
> An 2: Good news! By the time this is posted the next chapter of Mangekyou Squad will have been sent off to a beta. Shocking I know. Beta is busy this weekend, but I’m probably about to be sick to reviewed or not it’s gonna get uploaded around Monday PST so long as I’m not completely bedridden.


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